Discipling the Next Generation in Uganda’s Refugee Camps

Let the Little Children Come

For thousands of children in northern Uganda, home has been reduced to a tent or mud hut in a refugee settlement. They have been displaced from South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, and Rwanda. Their lives are marked by trauma and loss because many have fled civil strife and ethnic warfare; they carry emotional and psychological wounds that shape their worldview and their perceptions of life. But amid the hardship, the kingdom of Christ Jesus is alive and growing in these camps, bringing hope and healing to these young kids. Four years ago, Crossway partner Teaching the Vine expanded their ministry in these camps to include a focus on children.

Peter, who is often called 1 Peter, is the director of Teaching the Vine in Uganda and a Ugandan himself. He explains that back in 2022 when the ministry had been teaching only pastors and leaders, one of the leaders said to him, “You are capitalizing on training us adults, but you need to train up the next generation because it is actually through them that the future is bright.” Peter further comments, “The children are everywhere. We saw the need. And we came to realize that if we could shepherd them from a young age, in the future, they will become ideal candidates for adult leadership.” Now, four years later, over 6,200 children are gathering each week across 96 training centers in these refugee camps to be discipled under the Word of God.

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Raising Up the Next Generation

Crossway’s partnership with Teaching the Vine in the Ugandan settlements began back in 2019, providing resources for adults enrolled in their Bible Training Center for Pastors (BTCP). With the added focus on children, Crossway’s One Million Bibles Initiative: Global South helped supply Bibles to accompany the children’s curriculum, The Mailbox Club, and their trauma curriculum, Fresh Start.

Don Schrenk, senior pastor and founder of Teaching the Vine, speaks of how the Lord has brought together “the most trusted, gospel-centered resources available today” by way of Bibles from Crossway and curriculum designed for age-appropriate Bible discipleship and trauma healing. Plus, the children’s teachers are BTCP graduates who live inside the settlements and know the struggles the children face because many of them grew up as young people inside these camps as well.

In addition to talking recently with 1 Peter, Crossway was also able to speak with three other leaders: Lawrence who is a refugee teacher, 2 Peter who oversees the children’s ministry, and Wanni who works alongside 2 Peter in the children’s ministry. They all have graduated from BTCP and are now fully invested as leaders in the settlements.

How are the Bibles used in your ministry?

Lawrence: When we started the children’s ministry, we just started from some books and storybooks, but we did not have Bibles where the children could go and look at the Scriptures for themselves. Now the children who are old enough to read with the guidance of the teacher, they sit in groups of 10 or 15 to share a Bible. We write the reference of verses on a small chalkboard, and then we ask the children to open their Bibles. For example, I can tell them, “Let's open to Romans 3:16,” and then as I read, they follow, and we read together from the Bibles, and these are the Bibles from Crossway.

The ministry has really developed since it began four years ago. As I speak, there are now children who have been able to graduate as students to become junior teachers. They are 16 to 18 years old, and they’re able to read their Bibles on their own. If they can be given one Bible per person, then the Bibles can go home with them and they can use the same knowledge they’ve been given to also read with their family; that will be better. The Bibles we have right now are being kept at the churches because there are very few.

I used to preach here and there for small group Bible studies at the church where I belong. But I didn’t have the skill of handling the Bible. I wanted more because my perspective is that there is more to what God has given to us, but we need to be prepared for that. We can’t just sit down and say there is more and you’re not doing anything about it.

2 Peter: We realized the need of putting the Bible in a child’s hand. As the Scripture says, “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.” . . . We want to broaden our vision so that besides just training the children, we want to touch their families. A way of evangelizing the entire family without going there in a direct sense is sending a Bible home with a child. . . . Our vision is that a time is coming when these children open Bible groups in their compounds or in their homes where their parents can assist them to act out their vision for serving God.

Wanni: When I got in contact with the Crossway Bibles, that’s when I was especially helped. It really impacted me, my personal life, and I’m not just using it alone, but also I’m using it with my family. . . . And we have a fellow refugee brother living with us who has received Christ. He was chased out of his home because of religious resistance. His father disowned him. He has been discipled and baptized, and he stays with me. And I see that the more he uses the Bible, the more he grows up in his faith. That is also what gives me joy.

Through the One Million Bibles Initiative: Global South, these leaders and the children they serve have been experiencing the transformative power of God’s Word. The leaders understand the necessity of keeping the Word central to evangelism and discipleship, and they have a vision to see the Lord further grow His kingdom by the further transmission of His Word. As 2 Peter and Wanni shared, they would love to see every child reading from their own Bible and graduates given a Bible to take home. With over 6,000 children in the ministry, the need is great, but the opportunity for kingdom growth is even greater.

Pray for the Teaching the Vine team to be strengthened with wisdom and passion as they seek to minister to so many children. May they serve out of the Lord’s abundance, and may many more children come to know Jesus as Lord and Savior.

Pray that Bibles distributed through the One Million Bibles Initiative: Global South would be received by hands and hearts eager to respond to the good news of Christ Jesus.